The drive to Lynmouth

We left Porthcawl yesterday after a look around town at about 11 and followed the Bristol channel towards Bristol strangely enough untill we reached the M5 turn off and drove towards south west England. Sorry Shaz we didn't get your text and we are now out of Wales. The freeways are really good roads, mostly 4 lanes in each direction and the speed limit is 70 MPH so we covered some ground for a change. The only trouble is that they are boring so we turned off at Tauntin and went north through a national park to Minehead which is on the Bristol channel opposite Porthcawl. The road through the park followed a valley floor complete with a nice river. It snaked its way between hills and mountains for miles. It was really pretty and a good drive even if we had our normal complaint of not enough places to stop and take it all in. When we arrived in Minehead the road climbed very steeply to the top of the mountain range. The little Barina was screaming in 1st gear but would not hold 2nd so it got the canning it deserved. Once at the top the road flattened out and wound it's way along the mountain tops giving fantastic views in both directions. On one side were cliffs valleys streams waterfalls and the rolling hills we had driven through to get there and on the other was more cliffs Bristol channel and in the distance was Wales. It was beautiful. The road eventually ended with another steep 1st gear decline into Lynmouth. The town was so nice we decided to stay the night. Turns out 56 years ago today the place flooded and 60 buildings were washed away. 34 people including 2 girls from Melbourne  here on holiday were killed. None of the buildings were rebuilt, they widened the river instead to prevent futher flooding. Since 1953 only 7 new buildings have been built in town. It sits on a bay nand the river still runs through the center of town with a backdrop off towering tree covered mountains so there is no room left to build. Last night we sat outside the pub for hours, not only because of the beers but the view across the bay to the cliffs with the sun bringing out all the different colors was amongst the best we have seen anywhere. We will explore more today before heading off again. Unfortunately time is running out so we can't really stay any longer.

More great scenery